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Monday, June 7, 2021

Dualism (Or How Humans Process Thought)

 

Dualism (Or How Humans Process Thought)

If a group can have cognitive function and communication there has to be some process to do so. 

The term dualism was originally coined to denote co-eternal, binary the opposition, a meaning that is preserved in metaphysical and philosophical duality discourse but has been more generalized in other usages to indicate a system which contains two essential parts.

Moral dualism is the belief of the great complement of or the conflict between the benevolent and the malevolent. 

dualism often refers to the dichotomy between the "subject" (the observer) and the "object" (the observed)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dualism

The purpose of the dialectic method of reasoning is the resolution of disagreement through rational discussion, and, ultimately, the search for truth. One way to proceed—the Socratic method—is to show that a given hypothesis (with other admissions) leads to a contradiction; thus, forcing the withdrawal of the hypothesis as a candidate for truth (see reductio ad absurdum). Another dialectical resolution of disagreement is by denying a presupposition of the contending thesis and antithesis; thereby, proceeding to sublation (transcendence) to synthesis, a third thesis.

Fichtean/Hegelian dialectics is based upon four concepts:

1.   Everything is transient and finite, existing in the medium of time.

2.   Everything is composed of contradictions (opposing forces).

3.   Gradual changes lead to crises, turning points when one force overcomes its opponent force (quantitative change leads to qualitative change).

4.   Change is helical (periodic without returning to the same position), not circular (negation of the negation).

The concept of dialectic (as a unity of opposites) existed in the philosophy of Heraclitus of Ephesus, who proposed that everything is in constant change, as a result of inner strife and opposition.Hence, the history of the dialectical method is the history of philosophy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dialectic

For the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reality

Descartes in his Passions of the Soul and The Description of the Human Body suggested that the body works like a machine, that it has material properties. The mind (or soul), on the other hand, was described as a nonmaterial and does not follow the laws of nature. Descartes argued that the mind interacts with the body at the pineal gland. This form of dualism or duality proposes that the mind controls the body, but that the body can also influence the otherwise rational mind, such as when people act out of passion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes#Dualism

There are 2 worlds the relative and the absolute. 

IMHO dualism suggests either this or that. What if there is an intermediate step, that of transition. If either a light is on (lit) or off (dark) there is a transitional state that exists when one goes from on to off or vice versa. One can cut the power but an electric light can continue to produce light, however briefly, as the transition period takes place. This can have a more universal application as being transitions from one experience to the next. This (perhaps?) may be thought of as a Hegelian step after the thesis and antithesis collide producing a transformative synthesis. ©








Thursday, June 3, 2021

The Cognitive Revolution - Language

 

The Cognitive Revolution - Language

The appearance of new ways of thinking and communicating, between 70,000 and 30,000 years ago, constitutes the Cognitive Revolution. What caused it? We’re not sure. The most commonly believed theory argues that accidental genetic mutations changed the inner wiring of the brains of Sapiens, enabling them to think in unprecedented ways and to communicate using an altogether new type of language. We might call it the Tree of Knowledge mutation. Why did it occur in Sapiens DNA rather than in that of Neanderthals? It was a matter of pure chance, as far as we can tell. (Harari, Sapiens, p. 21)

Every animal has some kind of language. Even insects, such as bees and ants, know how to communicate in sophisticated ways, informing one another of the whereabouts of food. (Harari, Sapiens, p. 22)

Primitive people do not equate to dumb. “Modern Stone age peoples are probably more intelligent not less intelligent than industrialized people.” (Diamond, Guns, Germs and Steel, p. 19) He goes on to say that Modern Stone age people must contend with tribal warfare that proportionally claim a higher percentage of the population, accidents without medical remedies and a less certain food supply. 

Cognitive Revolution is accordingly the point when history declared its independence from biology. Until the Cognitive Revolution, the doings of all human species belonged to the realm of biology. (Harari, Sapiens, p. 37)

…stories that people invent and tell one another. There are no gods in the universe, no nations, no money, no human rights, no laws, and no justice outside the common imagination of human beings. (Harari, Sapiens, p. 28) 

It is a mistake to look for the differences at the level of the individual or the family. One on one, even ten on ten, we are embarrassingly similar to chimpanzees. Significant differences begin to appear only when we cross the threshold of 150 individuals, and when we reach 1,000–2,000 individuals, the differences are astounding. If you tried to bunch together thousands of chimpanzees into Tiananmen Square, Wall Street, the Vatican or the headquarters of the United Nations, the result would be pandemonium. By contrast, Sapiens regularly gather by the thousands in such places. Together, they create orderly patterns – such as trade networks, mass celebrations and political institutions – that they could never have created in isolation. The real difference between us and chimpanzees is the mythical glue that binds together large numbers of individuals, families and groups. This glue has made us the masters of creation.  (Harari, Sapiens, p. 37)

Language is amazingly supple. We can connect a limited number of sounds and signs to produce an infinite number of sentences, each with a distinct meaning. We can thereby ingest, store and communicate a prodigious amount of information about the surrounding world.

Our language evolved as a way of gossiping. According to this theory Homo sapiens is primarily a social animal…. important for them to know who in their band hates whom, who is sleeping with whom, who is honest, and who is a cheat. (Harari, Sapiens, p. 22-3)

Communication need not be verbal. Visual clues such as facial expressions, violence, sign language, touch, dance, art, etc., are all examples of nonverbal communication. However, spoken language can bind larger groups to more complex issues.

Reliable information about who could be trusted meant that small bands could expand into larger bands, and Sapiens could develop tighter and more sophisticated types of cooperation.

…vast majority of human communication – whether in the form of emails, phone calls or newspaper columns – is gossip. (Harari, Sapiens, p. 22-3)

What this means is humans are all about their stories, be they myths about gaps in human knowledge like primitive tribal Earth creation stories. Stories are the basis of belief and faith. It spawned everything from religion to keeping up with popular cultural icons. Humans can be passionate about these stories. They can bind a like-minded group together. They are at the heart of clubs, teams, tribes, regions, nations, and more. But there can be no stories without communication and language is a high form of communication. ©



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Major Written Mandates of Self-Ownership

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